


The Big Tank

by mothquake



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-10
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2018-04-26 11:46:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5003557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothquake/pseuds/mothquake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Knockout the mermaid/mech becomes friends with a land mech, but things go terribly wrong when a war among the bipedal mecha begins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Big Tank

**Author's Note:**

> A TF:P-verse mermaid AU featuring Knockout as the mermech, Breakdown, "Commander" Starscream, "Lord" Megatron, and Shockwave.  
> It gets a bit morbid at the end, and I think a warning is needed.
> 
> There's probably a lot of typos too. I apologize in advance v_v

It was a slightly warmer day in the ocean. The waves were even, and fish swam about everywhere. It was perfect for the red mermech.

His red optics glanced around everywhere, watching as cyberfish swam to and fro, going on with their busy little lives. Actually, being half cyberfish wasn't all too exciting. Normal mecha did not take kindly to hybrid species. The reason was unknown to him, but he decided it best that he not think about it. Besides, who cares ? He had made a few friends from the shore, like a mech named Breakdown. Despite his name, he was an awfully friendly land-dweller, as Knockout liked to call them. Sometimes the large mech would visit him by a cove, where the two met, and they would talk and eat rust sticks together.

Today he was not able to see Breakdown. According to the mech, it was his creation day, so Knockout decided he would get him a present-or make him one, rather. It would not be very hard, actually. The bottom of the ocean was filled with things you would be surprised to see at the bottom. That said, Knockout made his way down, swimming further and further down. When it got darker, he let his biolights light the area around him. He was decorated in them. Actually, he thought they were really cool, because he had biolights on his back, glowing a bright red, but then all along the rest of his plating, there were more. They just never lit up until he was in a very dark area, and after they had collected light from him swimming around near the surface. His tail had most of the lights, but he could still see, despite all of the jewelry he had collected when he was younger and put on his tail as decorations. He liked to hear the clink and jingle of them moving around as he swam.

Before he knew it, he was at the bottom, well, where he usually went. There were deeper areas, but he found that more dangerous creatures lived there, so he stayed away from there. He began to search through the ocean floor, many of the things he saw were data pads, some jewelry, and among that, other various . . things.

Soon, the mermech had gathered numerous things, moving back and forth from where he was, to the cove, and back. He had made the cove his home, of sorts. His place of storing treasures.

He knew Breakdown would be back tomorrow, so he took the day to collect things, and then spent most of the night deciding what to give Breakdown. In the end, though, he ended up crafting something from the scraps. He had picked up tools, broken ones, but he managed to 'fix' them after tinkering with them.

He fashioned a sort of bracelet for Breakdown, and while it looked like it really was a secondhand item, Breakdown had gladly accepted it the next day. It made the mermech happy, knowing he could please his friend, though he wanted to show Breakdown what it was like to live in the sea, just as Breakdown wanted to show the mermech what it was like to live on the surface. But it was impossible. Breakdown would probably drown because his frame was not made to be in the water, and Knockout would be out of place, what with his tail. Nonetheless, the two continued being friends, until it was apparent that Breakdown had appeared to become more worried and worried. Apparently there would be a war, and Breakdown had to choose. It wasn't really a choice for him-his creators held a relatively high status for "grounders," as he had called himself. Apparently he moved on land, whilst the "aerials" traveled at high speeds in the air. Due to his family's rather high status, he apparently had to enroll in the military. 

The information was new and interesting to Knockout, but the sound of war sounded terrible, especially because it was among Cybertronians, not Cybertronians and another species . . . Civil war among one's own species. It worried the mermech, so after Breakdown left, Knockout had gone to his home-a reef where he lived with other cyberfish and his carrier. She was a strange type of cyberfish; she was larger than most, and more intelligent. She was actually very close to the terrifying creatures in the deeper part of the ocean that Knockout stayed away from-she was the one he inherited his rather sharp denta from. It also helped him when he fed on other cyberfish for his meals.

He talked with his carrier about what he had heard-she was glad he had made a friend on the surface, just the way she had. She was not worried as much as Knockout was, but as soon as the war started, and continued at what seemed like no end, she got worried. It was also then, that the amount of water in the ocean was depleting, and the numbers of their food was decreasing.

Leaving the ocean was a terrifying, and hard choice for Knockout. His carrier was unable to live on the surface for long times, but he wouldn't just carry water with him everywhere . . and he could not exactly move very well on land. He had to leave his creator behind.

He brought her to the cove, as it had collected its own little supply of water. She could live there. He even grabbed a few cyberfish as they swam, putting them in with her, and making a little barrier with the treasures. the cyberfish would have food, and thus she would have food . .

He had promised her he would go back for her-it was a hard promise to keep, but he continued to repeat it to himself as he crawled out of the water-using just his arms to pull himself along the metal ground. It was a lot hotter than he was used to, and with a limited supply of his own cyberfish, he didn't know what to do. He could survive on the surface only because of his sire-a mech he did not know at all. All he knew of his sire came from his creator, so he began to search for his sire, but it was difficult. He had to stay hidden, and without water surrounding him, he found his movements to be sluggish, and more and more difficult with each coming day. He also had no idea what to do, or where to go . . So he began to look for Breakdown.

He learned that traveling at night was better, when the two moons were up, and it was cooler.

On about his seventeenth day of searching, he was lying somewhere. He had no idea where. All he knew was he was going behind large buildings, and eating scraps of metal and any other foodstuffs he found. It was actually a miserable way to live-he was practically starving, and the sounds of explosions and shouting were no help. If this was what life on the surface was like, he wanted to go back to the ocean, to his creator . . But he was too far, and had no food reserves. He had eaten all the cyberfish he had brought with him.

It was probably a miracle.

Yeah, a miracle . .

The mermech had been crawling around behind a large building-it was huge-and he ate scraps of metal without hesitation, and a more feral programming had been activated. He let out small feral growls as he picked up pieces of metal and ate them. he also grabbed at other little living things, though he usually found they were coming after him. He probably smelled like their prey. He often had turbofoxes nipping at his tail. He ended up smacking them with it, and snapping and swiping at them. The jewelry that was on his tail was scratched and tarnished, but they still jingled when he moved. They helped him remember why he was on the surface, so he continued to look for Breakdown. Or his creator. Whoever he was looking for. He was looking for someone . .

It was then that he heard something behind him. It wasn't a turbofox, or a cyberfeline. it was bipedal. A land-dweller like Breakdown ? The mermech hissed and growled as he quickly turned his front around to see who or what he was hearing, and he was surprised to see a familiar looking blue mech. Of course, it was Breakdown, but he had taken a different alternate mode for the war. he looked different.

The mermech hissed and pushed himself backwards, now facing the large blue mech. He moved away slowly. Moving himself backwards while he was sitting upright with his tail in front of him proved very difficult, but when he heard his name, his growling and hissing stopped, as did his movements, and for a long time, he stared at Breakdown with confused red optics, before he noticed a large servo extended out to him. He moved his helm closer to sniff at it, and as he opened his mouth to bite it, he recognized the scent, and blinked again. He had not spoken for a long time, only letting out hisses and growls, so when he said Breakdown's name in response, his voice was hoarse.

He didn't remember too much after that. All he did remember was a fatigue hitting him, and then darkness. When he had come to, he was in a large room, and while it was dark, dim lights gave enough light for him to make out the shapes of strange objects in the room. It was then that he realized he was in water, with food and food for his food, and so on. He ha no idea where he was, and he began to swim around frantically in wherever he was, banging against invisible walls that made his helm ache and spin. There was a weird symbol on one wall, that was dark. It was purple, but he had no idea what it was. He was soon distracted by that, and traced over it with his barbed digits. Weird. Something was blocking him from touching it . .

He looked around after a little while, feeling more calm, now. Kind of. Not really. He was quiet, and then swam up. Apparently there was a wall there too . . And it was just a little out of reach of the top of the room. What in the world was he in ?

The mermech was son back to his frantic swimming and hitting invisible walls, before the large metal doors nearby moved to open. Startled, Knockout ceased movement, and then swam behind a rock that was on the bottom of whatever he was in. He peeked out from behind it, and watched as Breakdown walked in. A strange mech walked in behind him. Unlike Breakdown, he was thin, long, and silver, with bright red optics, with black and white in them as well. What was wrong with his . . pedes ? That's what they were, right ? They looked weird.

Knockout stayed behind the rock, covered completely by it. He could barely hear them, but apparently the other mech was called Commander Starscream ? Soon, they began to walk over to him-well, one of the invisible walls.

He did not like this "Commander Starscream" at all . . He stayed hidden, even while Breakdown called for him, so soon the two gave up. Even putting rust sticks in the water didn't bring Knockout out from his hiding spot.

The event happened multiple times, and every time Commander Starscream left, Knockout would stay hidden longer, before coming out to talk to Breakdown.

It had been about a month. Knockout had grown used to living in this thing called a tank, despite how much he did not like it. This time, though, instead of just Commaner Starscream and Breakdown, there was a large, scary, pointy mech with them. That's how Knockout could describe him.

He was only allowed to hide for five minutes, before the strange mech, apparently called "Lord Megatron," slammed a silver fist against the tank's wall. The force shook it, and it startled Knockout, who retreated to the back of the tank, watching as the other cyberfish swam around in fright. It was then, that he was completely visible to the other three. There were two iron gazes on him, and the third gaze was looking away. It was Breakdown. Knockout was confused and scared, and now embarrassed that these two strange mechs were just staring at him. He acted in defense, and let out a hiss, baring his denta as he swam up to the front of the tank where he slammed his fists against. The force shook the tank-he was a very fast swimmer.

The two mechs didn't flinch, and soon Lord Megatron had pounded his fist against the glass, this time over where Knockout's face was. It made him dizzy as his 'home' shook, and he retreated to the back once more.

After that he was left alone for a while,and constantly asked Breakdown questions that were unanswered. He was scared, confused, and unsure what to do.

And then the testing began.

He was no longer allowed to see Breakdown, and the day was endless testing from a mech named "Shockwave" according to Lord Megatron and Commander Starscream.

The purple mech had a single red optic, and no face. It was creepy.

Soon, the mermech succumbed to all the testing-his behavior becoming even more submissive than it already was. He also felt more tired than he did awake, so most of the time he was recharging if not being tested on. Apparently he was "illogical," according to Shockwave. Oh well. Whatever.

_. . ?_

_. . . . . . ??_

_How long had it been ? Ah, who knows. Knockout had no idea, but the testing was finally over. He was exhausted._

_He was hungry._

_He was_

_He was_

_Hewas_

_Hewa-..._

_. . ._

_Hungry._

_Hungry.  Hungry._

#### HungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungry-

_Breakdown._

_Friend ??_

_No._

_Not friend._

_Breakdown not friend._

_Gave to_

_To_

_Lord Megatron._

_Commander Starscream._

_Both bad._

_Hungry._

_. . ._

_. . - **?**_

_Breakdown ?_

_Oh. Oops._

_Messy messy._

_Breakdown messy._

_. . ._

_Shockwave._

_Shockwave . . friend . ._

_Feed food. Food . ._

_Clean up mess._

_Clean up Breakdown . ._

_Messy messy._

_Help._

_Breakdown gone . ._

_. . Oops . ._

_Sorry._

_Ow._

_Ow._

_It hurts._

_It hurts._

_Ithurts_

_**IthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurtsIthurts !!** _

_**!!** _

_**. . !! ??** _

_????_

_!_

_. . ._

**Author's Note:**

> Yes that just happened because I am cruel and enjoy death.


End file.
